The goal of the IU women's basketball team this season has been to improve defensively.
Now, the Hoosiers (11-10, 4-6) are getting more specific.
Coach Felisha Legette-Jack has presented her players the challenge of limiting opponents to a ceiling of 59 points -- holding them under 60.
"I just think that if we hold people under 60 points, we win the game," she said. "I think we're 95 percent winners (when keeping opponents under 60 points), so let's not mess around with that. Let's hold them to 59 and take our chances."
"We do a great job as far as win-loss situation when we can keep people under 60 points, and we don't have any shot, in our opinion, when we don't keep them under that. We've got to take defense more serious."
Junior guard Whitney Lindsay said the team embraced Legette-Jack's challenge.
"We're really, really serious about it," she said. "The stats don't lie. When we hold teams under 59 points, we usually win the game. That's really, really important for us."
The formula has seemed to favor IU thus far.
Here's a look at how the Hoosiers have fared when allowing no more than 59 points as well as when allowing 60 or more points.
Allowed 59 or less
Nov. 15 vs. IUPUI -- W 75-52
Nov. 18 vs. Cincinnati -- W 64-57
Dec. 9 vs. Tennessee-Martin -- W 80-46
Jan. 3 vs. Michigan State -- L 53-44
Jan. 7 vs. Illinois -- W 50-48
Jan. 21 vs. Northwestern -- W 61-55
Jan. 28 vs. Wisconsin -- L 55-47
Record: 5-2
Allowed 60 or more
Nov. 13 at Memphis -- W 78-74
Nov. 22 at Missouri -- L 76-71
Nov. 26 vs. Virginia (in Bahamas) -- L 84-79
Nov. 27 vs. Charlotte (in Bahamas) -- W 72-61
Dec. 3 vs. Florida State -- L 82-74
Dec. 6 at Michigan State -- W 68-63
Dec. 13 at St. Louis -- W 74-61
Dec. 19 at Cleveland State -- L 77-75 (OT)
Dec. 22 vs. Toledo -- W 73-63
Dec. 31 at Purdue -- L 76-66
Jan. 10 at Penn State -- L 77-71 (OT)
Jan. 14 vs. Michigan -- W 62-60
Jan. 17 at Ohio State -- L 84-61
Jan. 24 at Michigan -- L 70-56
Record: 6-8
IU appears to have played its stingiest defense at home while allowing opponents to score more heavily on the road. The Hoosiers want to be known as both a defensive team and a dangerous road team, and improvement in the former could spark significant improvement in the latter.
